B00JX4CVBU EBOK (21 page)
Authors: Peter Joison
He waved a hand dismissively at the giant hole, and it too, drew together and vanished.
Turner fell to his knees. His sisters stood around him. He lowered his head and sent out a message to the connected Vordene web. ‘We did it. Thank you. Thank you.’
*
Turner pointed to the carpenter’s diagram. ‘This! I like this. The new spiral staircase works much better. I like the sweep of the balustrade as well. When can you start?’
The carpenter shook his head. ‘As soon as those stone monkeys finish the tower walls.’
Ember and Turner stood outside Wickerwell Manor, beneath the rising stone of a new tower. ‘Shouldn’t be more than a week I think,’ said Turner. ‘I’ll give you a call around then.’
The carpenter nodded, and rolled up his plans. Turner and Ember walked around the tower to where the manor’s sunroom used to be, now a gaping hole in the building.
‘So much change,’ said Ember.
Turner looked around at the confusion of workmen, scaffolding, piles of timber and stone. ‘Change is necessary sometimes. And really, most of the manor will be the same. We’re just opening things up a little. A new addition or two … a new cottage for Aunt Lani …’
‘A tower though? It’s kind of geeky.’
Turner smiled. ‘I’m the ultra-geek remember. And if it helps, just think of it as a triple story library. With all the rebuilding of the manor, it’s the only thing I’ve asked for. Plus you’ll thank me when we’re sitting up there in style, kicking back with a couple of good books.’
‘You reckless adventurer, you.’
Ember took his hand, and led him down the path towards the well. The other Wickerwell sisters were sitting on picnic rugs nearby, eating lunch.
‘I’ve had enough adventures for a while,’ said Turner, as he and Ember joined the others.
Brooke passed Turner a tray of chicken wings. ‘You may be up for more adventures, if what Mother Torhild says is right. You’re still an Ellring, aren’t you?’
Turner put a couple of wings on his plate. Then pointed to the sky. ‘Bad cloud,’ he said. The others looked up to see a large, rabbit shaped, white cloud vanish.
Skye sighed. ‘Parlour tricks.’
Turner grinned at her. ‘I’ve been practising my levitation, want to see?’
Skye shook her head. ‘No tha …’ She rose a foot off the ground. ‘Hey! Put me down! The workers will see me, you silly bugger.’
Turner twinkled his fingers at her, and she descended to the rug.
‘I think I might be able to fly,’ said Turner around a mouthful of meat.
‘What?’ said Celeste. ‘Flying? None of us …’
‘It’s just levitation, but on yourself,’ said Turner.
Celeste nodded. ‘Mother Torhild was right then. You’ve still got these powers because there’s probably something else around the corner. Something bad enough to need an Ellring.’
‘Turner thinks he’s kept the powers as a reward,’ said Ember.
Chloe reached across and patted Turner’s knee. ‘Aw, you keep thinking that, sweetie. You just keep polishing your medal until apocalypse two point oh begins.’
The others laughed.
Turner smiled. He looked around at the girls, his sisters. If there
was
another apocalypse, he hoped it didn’t happen for at least a couple of years. He was thinking about his powers, how they could be used to help people, put some things right.
Beginning with … he stared down at his plate, and without looking up, put the rabbit back in the sky.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wife Michelle, for your love and never-ending patience, and to my son Daniel, for your encouragement and continuous sense of humour.
Thank you so much to Gordon and Sue for the wonderful editing, and to my beta-readers for your constructive feedback and ideas.
And thank you dear reader. I hope you enjoyed the book. For more information on this and my other writing visit my website: peterjoison.com
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgments
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